Safety arrangement for a vehicle occupant

Abstract

A safety arrangement for protecting a vehicle occupant during a side collision provides airbags laterally adjacent to the head and torso portions of the occupant. The airbags are fillable with propellant gas by at least one gas generator contained in the same unit as the airbags in response to a signal from a collision sensor connected to a control unit. To permit the airbag arrangement to be as small in volume as possible, the airbags may be combined in one unit. The airbags are deployable forwardly in the direction of view of the occupant and, when filled, have a substantially C-shaped contour in side view. The unit containing the airbags and the gas generator may be mounted either in a vehicle component or on a structural part of the vehicle.

We claim: 
     
       1. A safety arrangement for a vehicle occupant comprising an airbag arrangement having a first airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant's head and a second airbag compartment positioned to protect the occupant's torso during a side collision, gas generator means actuatable in response to a signal from a collision sensor, and control means for controlling the activation of the gas generator means, wherein the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement are assembled as a unit and attached to a vehicle component or structural part and wherein the first and second airbag compartments have different filling characteristics and the first airbag compartment has a longer relaxation time than the second airbag compartment and the first and second airbag compartments, when filled with gas from the gas generator means, extend forwardly in vertically spaced relation substantially in the direction of view of the vehicle occupant and provide a substantially C-shaped contour in side view. 
     
     
       2. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the gas generator means comprises a housing to which the airbag arrangement is attached. 
     
     
       3. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the gas generator means comprises two gas generators which are separately actuatable by the control means. 
     
     
       4. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the airbag arrangement comprises two compartments connected by a check valve, one of the compartments being connected to the gas generator means. 
     
     
       5. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the airbag arrangement includes two airbag compartments joined into a single cushion. 
     
     
       6. A safety arrangement according 5o claim 1 wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is mounted in a vehicle seat. 
     
     
       7. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is mounted in a door of the vehicle. 
     
     
       8. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is mounted ill a substantially vertical vehicle column. 
     
     
       9. A safety arrangement according to claim wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is attached to a central tunnel of the vehicle. 
     
     
       10. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is attached to a frame for a back of the seat. 
     
     
       11. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement is attached to a head support associated with the seat. 
     
     
       12. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 comprising at least one gas generator means and airbag arrangement assembled as a unit disposed on each side of the vehicle occupant. 
     
     
       13. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 including prepositioning means responsive to the control means for moving the unit containing the gas generator means and the airbag arrangement from a rest position into a restraint position prior to activation of the gas generator means. 
     
     
       14. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the rate of relaxation of each airbag compartment is established by selection of an airbag material having a predetermined gas permeability. 
     
     
       15. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein each airbag compartment has a vent arrangement selected to provide a predetermined rate of relaxation. 
     
     
       16. A safety arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the airbag compartments include throttle means having selected cross-sections controllable by the control means to control the rate of relaxation. 
     
     
       17. A safety arrangement according to claim 4 including a connecting line between the airbag compartments containing a check valve which is arranged to permit filling of one of the airbag compartments and at least partly inhibiting emptying of that airbag compartment. 
     
     
       18. A safety arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the gas generator means includes two charge packages with different strength propellants. 
     
     
       19. A safety arrangement according to claim 18 wherein the gas generator means has an elongated housing with gas exit openings at opposite ends. 
     
     
       20. A safety arrangement according to claim 19 wherein the gas generator means is positioned approximately at the level of a horizontal axis of symmetry of the C-shaped contour, and the flow direction of the gas escaping from the gas generator after activation is initially approximately perpendicular to the axis of symmetry.